


Arthur vs. Hadrian

by Tiff33Tiff



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Merlin (TV)
Genre: Comments appreciated, Gen, I have no idea, M/M, One Shot, Short One Shot, What Have I Done, What-If, just...
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-20
Updated: 2018-05-20
Packaged: 2019-05-09 07:27:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14711735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tiff33Tiff/pseuds/Tiff33Tiff
Summary: Merlin thought there was no changing the status quo when it came to him and Arthur. Until he met a strangely alluring man who can speak to Magick herself and has a whole different world to show him.I don't know what this is, honestly...





	Arthur vs. Hadrian

**Author's Note:**

> THIS IS A DISCONTINUED WORK AND WILL NOT HAVE ANYTHING ADDED.
> 
> READ AT YOUR OWN RISK

“Hey, who are you?” the guard yelled into the night.

The person in question spun around, eyes moving quickly over his surroundings before landing on the guard. He was confused. “What happened? Where am I?”

“Drunk, eh?” the guard asked, relaxing somewhat. “You must’ve wandered up from the tavern. How’d you get into the castle? Why didn’t the other guards see you?”

“Tavern? Castle? Other guards? I-I don’t-,” the man looked around more, still confused.

“Now, I’ll just escort you into the town, alright?” The guard moved to grab the man. The dark haired man’s green eyes caught the light of a nearby torch. They glowed briefly as he moved away from the guard.

“No!” he yelled. The guard noticed his eyes and immediately drew his sword. 

“Sorcerer!!” He roared, alerting all the guards within hearing distance.

“What?” the man backed away farther, still looking around like he hadn’t any idea where he was. The guard wasn’t fooled.

“Stop playing tricks! I won’t let you destroy Camelot!” With this the guard charged, but it was too late. The man had disappeared into thin air!

The other guards came running around the corner, to find the first guard looking around frantically. Finally, he yelled to them, “Wake the prince! Sound the alarms! The sorcerer disappeared in front of me but I’m sure he’ll be back! He must be caught!”

They all went toward the castle, not noticing the vague shimmer in the air as the man with green eyes moved to follow.

 

* * *

 

 

Merlin woke from a strange dream that escaped his grasp as he tried to remember it. He was sitting up when the reason for his waking became apparent. The bells chimed loudly throughout the castle. An attack? 

“Arthur!” He yelled as he raced through his bedroom door. “Gaius, what’s the alarm for?”

“I don’t know, I’ve only just awoken myself, Merlin,” Gaius grumbled, hurrying to dress.

The door banged open and in rushed a man seemingly Merlin’s age with raven colored hair. He immediately turned and slammed the door before pressing himself against it. 

“Who are you?” Merlin asked, raising his arm a little, just in case.

“I-I-You have to help me! They think I’m a sorcerer! I didn’t even do any magic!” 

“Then why do they think you’re a sorcerer?” Gaius asked, untrusting.

“How should I know? Might be because I appeared out of nowhere. Or that I disappeared out of nowhere,” was his sarcastic reply. Merlin and Gaius backed up quickly. “She said you would be safe to tell!”

“Who said?” Merlin asked curiously.

“Magick of course! Who else? I don’t know where I am! I’ve only been here half an hour, I haven’t met anyone else. Just the guard that’s currently searching for me.”

“Magick? You’ve spoken to her?” Gaius asked, surprised. 

“Gaius, what’s he talking about?”

“It’s been said that once Magick had a voice. Once she walked among us and bestowed gifts. When the people grew to fear Magick and her gifts, she vanished. People still become sorcerers, but never ones like you, Merlin; someone touched directly by Magick herself.”

“ _ Merlin _ ?!” the man, who had given up finding somewhere to hide in the room with only two doors, said incredulously.

“Yes?” Merlin answered.

“You have got to be kidding.”

“Why would I kid about my name?”

Before he could answer, there were loud footsteps heard coming toward the door that led outside. He squeaked quietly and disappeared before their eyes. The door banged open again. This time it was guards. 

“Have you seen a man with black hair? He is a sorcerer that escaped.”

“No, no nothing. Has the King been informed about this? The hour is late,” Gaius answered.

“Yes. He has ordered the Prince and his knights to search the castle tonight and then the lower towns in the morning.” The other guards moved to check Merlin’s room quickly. They came back, shaking their heads.

“You’d think as a manservant you could keep your own room clean, eh Merlin?” one of them said. He was frequently stationed near the kitchens and they talked some while Merlin waited for Arthur’s food.

Merlin’s only answer was to grin vaguely, still reeling from the fact this new sorcerer could make himself invisible. 

“Well, you know what to do if you see the sorcerer. You can go back to bed.” With that, the guards filed out of the room and down the hall to continue the search.

“You’re a manservant? To whom?” the man asked, suddenly appearing again.

“Gods, don’t do that!” Gaius jumped.

“Sorry,” the green eyed man said sheepishly.

“Prince Arthur, of Camelot,” Merlin added, because he didn’t seem to know where he was.

“You have got to be kidding me!” 

“Maybe we should focus on finding somewhere to put you,” Gaius interrupted.

“Of course,” Merlin said. “I can take you down to the tunnels under the castle. You’ll have to stay there until we can sneak you out of the city.”

“Why can’t I stay here?” the man asked.

“You can’t stay in the castle!”

“But they’ve already looked through here and didn’t find me. Why would they look again? Isn’t this the perfect place to hide?” 

Merlin and Gaius exchanged a glance. The man noticed.

“Oh, I see then. It’s fine, I can find my own way. I’ll figure something out.” He moved to the door.

“No!” Merlin exclaimed. The man stopped. “It’s fine. You’re right, this is the safest place. You can stay in my room, -er.”

“Hadrian.” The man moved away from the door.

“Right,” Merlin nodded. “Hadrian, you can stay in my room.”

 

“You’re kidding. I’m not going to let you sleep on the floor! I’ve slept on stone before, and, trust me, you don’t ever want to experience that.” 

Merlin sighed. They’d been arguing about sleeping arrangements for the past ten minutes and he just wanted to get some more sleep before getting up to deal with Arthur who would no doubt be in a bad mood in the morning. “Then what do you suggest we do?”

Hadrian looked around the small room. It was messy. He liked it though because that made it look lived in. “I’ll expand the bed.”

“How?”

Hadrian’s emerald eyes glinted mischievously. “Magic.”

Merlin watched as his bed suddenly grew two times as large as normal. The padding also got... fluffier, for lack of a better word. The blankets, when he touched them, felt better than Prince Arthur’s. “I’ve never seen a sorcerer who didn’t say things to do spells. I’m the only one, I thought.”

“No, you still are. I just learned to say them in my head instead of out loud. Not many can do that. And even less can do it without a magical conduit like a staff or a wand.”

“Amazing.”

“Yes, magic generally is. It still surprises me, after all these years.”

“How long have you practiced? When did you become a sorcerer?”

“I was eleven when I was taken in by a Master. He taught me everything he knew. Eventually I surpassed him, however. I left and learned from the druids for a few years before ending up here somehow. Magick won’t tell me what she did, but this has her meddling all over it. I’ll stay in Camelot until she tells me. After the hype about the escaped sorcerer calms, I can go out in public. We can say I’m an old friend of yours that’s visiting.”

“I always had magic,” Merlin confided. “I was hovering things around the room before I could walk. Do you think you could ask Magick- could you ask her-?”

“Our communication isn’t like that. I know about Emrys and you and King Arthur, of course, but I can’t ask her why she chose you. I once asked her about why she chose me. Why communicate with me? I got the sense that she shrugged. But you, well, why do you think she chose you?”

Merlin sat on the bed. Hadrian sat next to him.

“I-I don’t know.”

“Yes, you do.”

Merlin’s eyes widened. He’d never talked to anyone like this. Not since Freya. Maybe not even then.

“I-maybe, yeah.”

“Come on then, we should sleep. You have work in the morning,” Hadrian teased, lightening the mood. Merlin grinned tiredly back. Merlin, having not changed clothes, got into the expanded bed. Hadrian slowly started taking off layers of clothing.

“I hope you don’t mind; I don’t sleep with a shirt on.”

Merlin shook his head. “No I don’t mind.”

“Brilliant.” Hadrian took off the last layer and Merlin couldn’t help but stare. The scars glistened in the firelight. Hadrian noticed his gaze. “Not everyone takes kindly to magic-users.”

Merlin nodded, blushing at being caught. Hadrian chuckled as he got into bed. They shuffled around before settling down in a way that made sure they weren’t touching but comfortable enough they could sleep.

“Do you want to turn off the light, or shall I?” Hadrian whispered, his breath hitting Merlin’s neck. Their eyes connected across the few inches between them. Merlin’s eyes flashed gold and the candles went out.

 

* * *

 

 

 

The morning brought much awkwardness. In the few hours of sleep they’d gotten, they somehow became tangled around one another. Merlin woke up on top of Hadrian, one hand shoved in Hadrian’s raven colored tresses, the other on his hip. Their legs were also intertwined. Hadrian’s hands were wrapped around his waist.

“Oops,” was the first thing Hadrian said upon waking. Merlin blushed and moved off him quickly. “Sorry about that. I should’ve known I was a cuddler.”

“It’s fine,” Merlin blushed. “I have to go- I mean, it’s not that I- but, Arthur-”

“I get it.” Hadrian’s emerald eyes looked deep into Merlin’s stormy blue. Merlin had to look away. Somehow he knew that Hadrian  _ did _ get it. And that scared him. “Go on, shouldn’t keep a Prince waiting. Especially one who’s been up all night looking for someone he’ll never find.”

“Oh, right…”

“Sorry about that.”

“No, it’s not your fault,” Merlin protested.

“Are you sure? You’re not mad that it’ll mean extra work for you today?” Hadrian looked at him skeptically.

“O-Of course not, Arthur always rides me pretty hard--I-I mean,” Merlin stuttered, his rather large ears turned bright red.

“Clearly he needs to sort out his priorities if you can still blush this hard after a little innuendo,” Hadrian smirked. “I know if I had my way with you, you wouldn’t even blush at the thought of having sex...in public.”

Merlin didn’t know what to say, he just blushed harder.

“Oh! I just had a thought!” Hadrian exclaimed. “You’ve never had sex with another magic user before, have you? Oh, the things I could teach you…”

There was a squealing sound and then when Hadrian blinked, Merlin was gone. He’d run out the door as quickly as possible. A gust of wind ruffled Hadrian’s hair and felt vaguely biting on his skin. He sighed. 

“Perhaps I did come on a bit strong…” Hadrian spoke aloud, glancing to make sure Gaius was still asleep. “But how else am I to get them to do what I want?”

There wasn’t an answer. Of course there wasn’t. He would have to go it alone, as always.


End file.
